


Dance

by Fallowsthorn



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Flash Fic, Gen, Magical Girls, Pacific Rim Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2013-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-25 11:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/952814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallowsthorn/pseuds/Fallowsthorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When pilots enter their Jaeger, they must have a magical-girl-style transformation.  Some people handle this better than others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Guys, I don't know what this is, or why. I just had this one vivid image, and here we are.
> 
> Prompt is here, at the Pacific Rim Kink Meme: http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/350.html?thread=713566#t713566. It's basically the summary.

This is the way it used to be:

He'd laughed. When they told him what was going to happen and how it was going to be, he couldn't help it, and then he saw their faces and his grin had slid away somewhere, the same place as theirs had gone.

And then he'd fought it. Because it was one thing to be told that he wouldn't be in control, that his muscles would move without him wanting them to, and entirely another to feel his arms press inward and his spine shudder into the drift mechanism, to feel part of an alien name tear itself out of his throat in a wild shout and to hear the other half from Yancy, just as terrified.

And then he'd hid. Because he was a Jaeger pilot, he was one of the few put out there to help save the world, and hundreds of people had seen that - that _dance routine_ , like it was a fucking Saturday morning cartoon. Yancy found him, and they walked the hallways inseparable, daring whoever they found to say a damn word.

* * *

This is the way it was:

They grew into it. Partly because they had to, but not just that. It became _theirs_ , as defined and defended as their own selves, or their Jaeger. It became a snarl, a battle cry. It wasn't an uncommon outcome for pilots; more uncommon - and eventually, unthinkable - was the rejection of it. More and more, he found himself unconsciously going through the motions, and at one point both he and Yancy got so good at it they could mimic each other without looking, without the threat of a Kaiju spurring them on.

And then he hated it. Because now there was no one left to mimic, now there was no reason for the fluid movements that allowed him the mantle of the Jaeger and the drift. And then he was gone from the Shatterdome, nothing left for him there, and the bars he submerged himself in had no room in their narrow hallways for a turn, a half-step back with arms rising in exultation-

And then he learned to hide it again. Because the work crew he was assigned to knew very little about his past, he'd requested that specifically. Raleigh the slightly stupid manual laborer had no reason to display the enormous grace of a Jaeger as he walked, no reason to automatically expect the sudden weight of chitinous armor as he clasped hands. So he suppressed it always, at first flinching back from what he meant into what he should be, and after a while covering the constant moments of disorientation seamlessly. It was tiring. He didn't want to be alone.

* * *

This is the way it is:

She laughs. When he tells her what to expect and how it's going to be, she can't help it. But she doesn't laugh like he did; there's no disbelieving shock, no underlying horror of _I went through so much for_ this _?_ She knows what she's getting into, and her laughter is quiet and short, taking what wingbeats of joy it can in the cramped and smoggy sky. She wants this as much as he does, and again he marvels at how like her he is, as he was like Yancy, and in completely different ways.

And then he realizes that even after so long, he knows the steps by heart, and he can dance them along the corridors without a single person finding it strange. And he sees it in the other pilots, the way so long unused it almost feels foreign - the savage drumbeats of the Kaidanovskys' boots, the shimmering whirl of the Wei Tang triplets' basketball. Herc can't settle on a style, runner's fury one minute and hammer blows the next, although Raleigh doesn't know if the non-pilots can see it. Chuck shows it in his smirk and his strut and he's too proud to show it as he moves and it makes Raleigh want to punch him in the mouth even more than the kid's dumbassery does.

And then this is how it goes:

They have a stupidly large crowd of people watching them, ringed around the balconies like they're cheering on a game. This time he's okay with it, but he's still antsy, combat nerves scattering his thoughts. He can sense Mako fidgeting in her circ suit, and he bounces slightly on the balls of his feet, impatient. Finally, the technicians give them the go-ahead, and they step into the drive room. He can feel it when they're standing in the right place, as he hears - but not quite hears - everything - crystallize.

two pilots ready to connect

Raleigh throws himself into the motions, feeling like he's stretching a muscle he didn't know had atrophied. It's euphoric, and the familiar weight settles around him. He smiles at Mako over their crossed hands - not quite the same, the dance has changed but so has he - and spins into the next steps like he's reaching back five years.

And then the link is on them, tentative but enough to revel in, and he throws his arms wide and roars out "GIPSY!" as loud as he can, almost laughing or choking on glee as Mako's overlapping "DANGER!" almost deafens him.

ready to activate the jaeger in three. two. one

Their fists slam into their palms and they look up, shooting the same determined expression at the wall in front of them. Before they slide into the drift completely, Raleigh flashes a grin at Mako. The steps have changed, but the dance, the Jaeger, the exhilaration - the important things, those are the same.

They've needed this, both of them, and they turn to face the drift together.


End file.
